Method oii making shbossee coated fabric



y 1933- E. E. GEORGE 1,919,058

METHOD OF MAKING EMBOSSED COATED FABRIC Original Filed Nov. 23, 1929 Patented July 18, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDGAR E. GEORGE, 013 CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE BUTTONLESS TIRE COVER COMPANY, OF CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO METHOD OF llIAKINGr EMBOSSED COATED FABRIC Original application filed November 23, 1929, Serial No. 409,308. Divided and this application filed.

November 23, 1931.

ter, and the like, and the present application PTO is a division of my prior application for U. S. Letters Patent, Serial No. 409,306, filed November 23, 1929, since matured in Letters Patent N 0. 1,852,964, on April 5, 1932, including claims to embossed fabric having a plurality of pro-formed laminas.

Fabrics are used'in large quantities for making automobile tire covers, and the tire covers usually have a design applied there.- to together with the name of the tire dealer or the like;

When the design and printed matter is embossed on'the tire cover, it has a superior appearance to that attained by merely painting the design and printedmatter thereon.

Coated fabrics include those known to the trade as enameled drill, sateens, muslins, and ducks, and the enamel coating. on. the same may include a graphite filler or base mixed with linseed-oil and applied to the fabric under controlled temperatures and pressures.

These enameled fabrics are less expensive than another class of coated fabrics,'known as pyroxlin fabrics.

The more expensive pyroxlin coated fabrics are adapted for being embossed between dies for forming designs and printed matter in relief in the fabric.

The dies are usually heated, and the resulting embossed fabric presents an attractive appearance on the coated side thereof, and the outer surfaces of the raised portions of the letters and the design merge smoothly with the outer surface of the adjacent coating, after the printed matter and design have been embossed or impressed in the pyroxlin fabric.

Because of the aforesaid relatively cost of the pyroxlin coated fabrics, it is desirable to emboss or impress the less expensive enameled fabrics, but experts 1n the art have heretofore declared it to be impossible v to satisfactorily emboss or impress an enameled fabric without breaking the conti- Serial No. 576,755.

nuity of: the coating of the raised characters and configurations with the adjacent coating on the remaining portions of the fabric.

It has moreover been considered practically impossible to make a permanent embossing or impression in' enameled fabrics, regardlessof the surface characteristics of the same, the usual experience being that the raised characters and configurations of the printed matter and designs would not remain permanently formed'in the enameled fabrics.

The objects of the present invention include the provision of an improved method of making improved embossed enameled fabric such as that set forth in my said Patent No. 1,852,964-, the coated surface of which will be substantially unbroken, and-the embossing or impressions in which will be'permanently formed in the fabric.

These objects are attained by the present invention, as will be claimed hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of improved embossed enameled fabric such as that set forth in my, saidPatent No. 1,852,964'made by carrying out the improved method hereofis illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, in which v Figure 1 is a view looking towards the surface normally presented to the eye of a piece of the improved embossed enameled fabric, the embossing comprising a design and printed matter;

Fig. 2, a sectional view thereof as online 2-2, Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3, a rear view thereof.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawing. I

The improved embossed enameled fabric such as that set forth in my said Patent No. 1,852,964 indicated generally at 10 comprises an embossed laminated structure in cluding one outer compound lamina 11 com-.

such as glue, and the lamina of thermo-plastic material is preferably interposed between the lamina 11 comprising the coated fabric, and a lamina 16 of paper or the like.

The resulting laminated structure is sufliciently rigid to maintain permanently the embossed or impressed printed matter and design 17 in the enameled fabric.

The present improved method of making the aforesaid improved embossed enameled fabric includes carrying out the following steps:

First, moistening the outer surface of the fabric side of a sheet of the enamel coated fabric;

Second, applying a lamina of thermoplastic material, preferably glue which may be in the form of a lamina of glue preapplied on one side of a lamina of paper;

Third, embossing or impressing the desired characters and configurations by applying pressure and heat to the moistened fabric and the thermo-plastic lamina thereon as by means of embossing dies between which the laminated structure is interposed.

The step of moistening the fabric provides for the release of suilicient steam when the pressure is applied to the opposite surfaces of the several laminas by the heated dies, so that the coating of the enameled fabric is softened and smoothly flows to the desired high and low portions of the characters and configurations.

Upon removing the embossed laminated structure from the dies and upon cooling, the enamel coating, and the thermo-plastie lamina sets, and the embossing is permanently maintained in the fabric.

When desired a fabric such as muslin or cheesecloth may be used instead of the paper backing lamina.

I claim: I

1. The process of forming permanent designs on automobile tire cover material which consists in applying to a predetermined area of said material a thermoplastic, self-hardening, non-peeling, constantly flexible substance, said material being capable of resisting tensile strains and of retaining an embossed design without materially decreasing the flexibility of said material, and embossing said area by means of hot dies.

2. The process of forming permanent designs on tire cover material which consists in applyin to a predetermined area of said materia a thermoplastic, self-hardening, non-peeling, constantly flexible substance, said material being capable of resisting tensile strains and of retaining an embossed design without materially decreasing the flexibility of said material, and embossing said area simultaneously from both sides of said material by means of hot dies.

3. The method of embossing a design in a predetermined area of an uncoated textile article subjected to repeated tensile strains and fiexings in normal use, said method consistin in applying an impervious thermoplastic, self-hardening coating to only that area of the, textile to be embossed, then impressing said design by means of hot dies through said coated area from both surfacesof said textile, whereby the material of said coating will impregnate the textile, and thence releasing said heat and pressure and allowing to cool, whereby said embossed design will be impervious, will hold its shape through repeated tensile strains, and will flex Without cracking.

EDGAR E. GEORGE. 

